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Doi's paper has successfully spelled out several important points on amae: (1) Amae is an interpersonal process; (2) the origin of amae probably lies in the infant-mother relationship: (3) the concept of amae provides no absolute standard to classify a behavior in terms of amae;, (4) amae is best understood as a combination of patterns of behaviors; and (5) amae is g very broad concept. Implicit, but insufficiently recognized in Doi's paper, is the concept that amae is an interpersonal process of negotiation that is continuously revised throughout life. it is not just a motivational factor embedded in. an individual: underneath the surface phenomenon of amae, an amaeru-ing person usually allows the other to feel needed, valued, and respected. Operationalizing the concept of amae for international research requires that the term be defined in relation to a combination or patterns of behaviors observable in the infant/child-mother dyad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper of the Change Process Study Group of Boston addresses an unsolved conceptual problem: How does one codify intersubjective states? The transfer of concepts from infant research to the adult therapeutic dyad is more than an analogy in that certain primitive aspects of mind appear in infancy, but persist throughout life. The regulation of consciousness is one salient example. The adult therapeutic dyad and the mother–infant dyad can be viewed as self-regulating dynamic systems that are also self-reparative. The concept of implicit relational knowledge is offered as an alternative way of thinking about internal object relations. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperamental characteristics have been related to later externalizing and internalizing behavioral outcomes. To assess the relationship between temperament and the early family environment, we measured infant temperament, pleasure in parenting, and marital happiness via parent report in 99 families with a nonrelative adoptive infant. Perceptions of child temperament were assessed using two subscales of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ; Rothbart, 1981). Mothers and fathers who rated their adoptive child as showing more Distress to Limitations (on the IBQ) reported less pleasure in routine parenting activities; this effect was mediated by marital happiness for fathers. Mothers reported less pleasure in parenting with infants perceived to be more temperamentally fearful (on the IBQ). The bidirectional relationship between temperamental characteristics and pleasure in parenting is discussed. © 2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the commitment to publishing both interdisciplinary and international research and clinical papers in the field of infant mental health for the September 1992 issue of the "Infant Mental Health Journal" in the U.S. Theoretical papers included among the articles published in the issue; inclusion of the different disciplinary concerns as part of the editorial process; Illustration of how the editorial process has been handled.

This paper expands on three areas of clinical theory that are introduced and discussed in the lead paper and the others in this symposium. The first issue addressed is the concept of the real relationship as used in the moment of meeting model of psychotherapeutic change. Particular focus has been placed on the past, the present, and the hierarchy of goals in the treatment relationship. Second, the paper explores the concept of implicit relational knowledge with attention to the concepts of transference, countertransference, interpretation, and insight in the change process. Finally, the paper attends to the nature of the “now moment” in the moment of meeting model. Specifically explicated are ways this concept relates to changes in brain organization and also ways the moment of meeting model relates to other psychotherapy models, such as the relational schools and self-psychology. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the manipulation of mental representations, particularly in relation to the psychoanalytic concepts of conscious or unconscious fantasy. A distinction is made between the unconscious phenomenal (experiential) aspect of representations and the nonexperiential, quasi-structural aspect. The concept of the representational world is described and elaborated, and its development is seen as a consequence of the infant's interaction with itself and The external world, Processes such as identification and projection can be seen in terms of changes in self and object representations, and the same is true for all the mechanisms of defense. The content of unconscious wishes is transformed, by use of such mechanisms, into representations that are acceptable to consciousness, Major transformations of unconscious representational content occur in the process of creating unconscious (preconscious) fantasy, and further transformations are frequently needed before such (preconscious) fantasies are permitted access to consciousness. The concept of projective identification is considered in the light of the ideas put forward in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conceptual and methodological framework of an observational method designed to measure the interconnectedness between individual development and early relationships is presented. This model is based on our growing understanding of the intense participation of the baby in determining his or her own development. Research on the manifestations of initiatives, environmental responses, and interactive happenings (confrontations, negotiations, encounters) has yielded an instrument defined in several different ways. Twenty-eight mother-infant pairs are presented in this paper. Initiative is considered an important manifestation of the expression of the infant as a differentiated being. It is anticipated that the method presented in this paper will be adequate to measure the development of the infant's self in relationship to his or her environment. It is proposed that the progressive constitution of the self will depend upon an adequate resolution of the basic formula preserving spontaneity/compliance during development. Specific interactive phenomena including negotiation and occurrence of encounters will allow for the identification of particular features of each dyad. An objective of the research is to make predictions about the future development of both the infant as an individual and the dyad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fonagy (Fonagy, Steele, Steele, Moran, & Higgitt, 1991) defines the ‘self’ as the immediate experience of life and the ‘reflective self’ as the internal observer of mental life that knows the ‘self’ and reflects upon mental experience, both conscious and unconscious. Developing this internal observing self has been found to be an extremely valuable skill that enhances the capacities of those working in the caring professions and with relationships. The technique that has been developed is called Infant Observation because it began with those training in the Child and Family Mental Health field. It has, however, grown and expanded and can involve observing infants, young children, older children, families, and institutions. The evolution in the child of the ‘reflective-self function’ (Fonagy et al., 1991) is seen as an essential step in emotional development. Refining and sharpening this skill in those working with the effects of relationships on relationships is, we would suggest, an equally essential step in the professional development of workers. What we hope to achieve is something akin to the internal observing self, but this internal observer is an aspect of the self, the individual who is capable of self-observation as a professional tool. This paper describes, in two parts, the process by which the skills of trainees in the caring professions can be developed. In the first part, the training experience and the working of the seminar are described. In the second part of the paper, the process of identification with the observing function of the infant observer is explored by presenting a case of a 7-month-old baby girl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his paper, Caruso argues that discussing early entrance into infant day care as a risk factor for later development is neither justified based on the current body of available research nor useful in directing future investigations. He suggests we should return to the use of associational terminology in reporting on infant day care. This paper addresses Caruso's interpretation of a risk factor conceptualization and suggests an alternative theoretical model within which to view the connections between early day care attendance, mother-child attachment, and subsequent developmental problems. One major factor influencing the debate about risk status and infant day care is the significance different researchers attribute to outcomes of insecure attachment. This reply contends that the developmental consequences of early insecurity may be more detrimental to overall adaptation than Caruso suggests. Further, whereas limiting the reading of research results to purely associational findings may lead to less ideological controversy, it may not be the best strategy for generating hypotheses regarding the interactive roles that varying early ecological environments and parent-child relationship patterns may have on child development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A prospective longitudinal study assessed the development of the mother-child relationship within the context of other important aspects of transition to parenthood, in the prenatal phase, 238 women who were 8 months pregnant with their first child completed a set of questionnaires. At 1 month postpartum, 165 of these women completed a second set of questionnaires, and a subset of 86 were observed for I hour at home with their infants. When their child was 2 years old, 62 of the 86 mothers completed questionnaires and were observed in interaction with their toddler in the laboratory. The several hundred individual variables were reduced to internally consistent composite variables, 5 in the prenatal phase, 7 postpartum, and 14 in the toddler phase. Preliminary analyses reported in this paper assessed the structure of relationships among the composite variables within each phase (Pearson correlations) and whether there was significant prediction from one dimension to another across the phases, beyond stability in the predicted dimension (multiple regressions). Causal modeling analyses are still in progress. The results indicate that the development of maternal attachment is a gradual process and that feelings of attachment are related to a number of other measures of women's psychological well-being. Parenting confidence was found to play a central role in adaptation to motherhood within each phase, as well as from the prenatal to postpartum and postpartum to toddler phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, elements of early mother—child interaction are related to later cognitive and linguistic outcomes in a sample of 53 high social risk mothers and their preschoolers. Mother—child interaction was observed longitudinally when the children were 13 and 20 months old. Multiple regression analyses were used to predict cognitive and linguistic outcomes at 3 and 5 years form measures of early mother—child interaction. The results indicated that the quality of early mother—child interaction was a significant predictor of preschool cognitive and linguistic outcomes. This was shown to be true regardless of the contribution of the mother's IQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there has been increased recognition in the research literature of the profound grief reaction following pregnancy termination due to fetal anomaly, many medical caregivers continue to assume mistakenly that responses are much milder, akin to elective abortion, This paper details the additional psychological burdens and tasks demanded by this pregnancy loss-the moral and marital challenges in making the decision of whether to terminate, the psychological quandary of whether a pregnancy or a life has been ended, the amplified shame and reluctance to share this loss with other due to current societal controversy regarding elective abortion, and the uncertainty of what to tell one's children about this loss. Clinical implications, recommendations, and case examples are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dealing with the psychological issues involved in perinatal loss exposes the medical, nursing, and midwifery staff not only to parents' distress but also their own feelings of impotence and frustration. This often leads to inadequate management of the situation, which may have long-term deleterious effects on parents and affect staff personally and professionally. Thus, mental health professionals should not only address their interventions to parents, but to staff as well, potentiating the latter's role as mental health providers. The skills needed for this kind of task involve creativity and flexibility, as well as the capacity to adapt traditional training to the active participation needed in dealing with perinatal loss. The present paper is based upon the author's 15 years' experience in consultation/liaison in this field and describes the work carried out based on case discussion, group work, and, specially, video-recorded interviews with parents and staff accompanied by written material providing guidelines for management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stories in the popular press about the potential damage suffered by children prenatally exposed to drags easily arouse hostile and punitive attitudes towards the children's mothers. Concerns about the outcome of drug-exposed infants are legitimate, but predictions about adverse outcomes are being made in the absence of reliable scientific data. The postnatal environment, particularly the parenting environment, has a significant influence on the developmental outcome of children. Any model for understanding the effects of prenatal drug exposure and parental addiction on a child's development must consider both potential biologic insult and environmental risk factors. This paper examines clinical issues related to the management of the substance-involved mother and her infant, by understanding maternal addiction; the regulatory capacities of the infant, and how drug treatment can be a part of a mutual regulatory system between mother and child. Clinical guidelines are given to assist clinicians in their work with drug-exposed infants and their mothers. Best practices are discussed based on a family-centered approach to maternal drug use and its impact on infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, recent studies of the effects of prenatal cocaine abuse and other toxic substances on infant behavior and development during early infancy are critically reviewed. The inevitable conclusion from this review is that compromising main effects of single drugs such as cocaine on infant behavior and development have not been reliably established. It is argued that the tong-term developmental outcome of prenatally drug-exposed infants cannot be fully understood without a thorough consideration of other confounding factors associated with prenatal drug use, such as the quality of the infant's postnatal caregiving environment. Specifically, it is argued that the infant's ability to resolve macro-level developmental tasks during early infancy such as physiologic and behavioral state regulation, sustained face-to-face interaction, and joint attention to objects is primarily determined by dyadic processes at a micro-level; namely, via the communicative and affective mutually regulated processes established over time by the exposed infant and its caregiver. Critically, these processes are affected both by the biological competence Of the infant and by the protective or disruptive role of the caregiving environment. Both caregiver and infant factors associated with cocaine exposure that may disrupt the regulatory capacity of the dyad are described, and illustrations of how resulting dyadic dysregulation may preclude the infant's successful resolution of current and future developmental tasks are provided. Thus it is argued that to understand the effects of cocaine on development we must understand the process of mutual regulation of the cocaine-exposed dyad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper calls attention to the plight of children exposed to various traumas associated with wars and other natural disasters around the world. Little systematic attention has been paid to the mental health needs of child survivors of armed conflict. Our observations and experiences around the world would suggest that there are significant differences in the degree to which children have been prepared in anticipation of exposure to violence and in interventions applied after their exposure. It is the authors' impression that prevention and intervention can be quite powerful when employed in these situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infant sleep problems have become prevalent as complaints of parents to clinicians during the first 2 years of the child's life. This paper reviews (1) identification of multiple etiological sources for infant sleep problems from a systems perspective, (2) the assessment of sleep disturbance, and (3) the application of intervention methods to the appropriate component of system dysfunction. These areas are reviewed by integrating research findings with clinical vignettes from our practice as pediatric sleep clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work was to identify ways of objectifying the course of mothers' representations of their babies and themselves as mothers during pregnancy and the postpartum period. A sample of 51 women attending a Family Guidance Clinic for psychoprophylaxis courses was studied using semistructured interviews that were administered in the 7th month of pregnancy and on the 5th day and in the 4th month postpartum. This paper describes a method for classifying themes identified in the mothers' representations of the baby and the self-as-mother as wish-organized, defense-organized, fear-organized, or disorganized. This classification derives from the presumed clinical function of the narrative themes in the mothers' representational world. Themes about the baby and about the self-as-mother were primarily fear-organized at the 7th month of pregnancy. On the 5th day postpartum, there was not prevailing thematic organization. At 4 months postpartum, representations of the baby were primarily fear-organized and almost never disorganized. We speculate that themes about the baby and the self-as-mother that are disorganized may have negative prognostic significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although not all abused children grow up to, be abusive parents, it is well known that people who were severely mistreated by their parents as compared to those who were not are at higher risk for mistreating their children. It has also been shown that abusive parents often have unrealistic expectations for their children-expectations based on distorted perceptions of their children's needs, feelings, and abilities, In this paper, we examine the utility of new methods developed in social psychology to study: (1) the impact of abuse on the structure and content of interpersonal and self-perception and (2) the interrelationships among an abused mother's social and self-perception, the quality of her interactions with her child, and the child's development. Case studies will be presented to illustrate how these new methods reflect risk for abuse as predicted independently by clinicians treating the cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome is a version of Munchausen's Syndrome whereby a parent, usually the mother, simulates or fabricates disease in one or more of her children in order to seek medical attention. Because this disorder is usually identified in pediatric settings, current literature focuses on identification of the syndrome, with little discussion of treatment issues or management strategies other than confrontation of the parent and removal of the child from the home. With the increased availability of infant mental health services, infant clinicians are likely to be called on to evaluate and treat cases of this disorder. This paper reviews the Munchausen by Proxy literature for infant clinicians and describes the identification and long-term management of one Munchausen by Proxy case within the context of an infant home-visiting service. Pertinent issues that emerged included the difficulties inherent in documenting the mother's pathological behavior, the clinical tension between preventing flight from treatment but limiting harmful behavior, the need for a long-term collaborative relationship with a designated pediatrician, and the importance of further education of protective service workers about this syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work of John Bowlby and his associates on the development of the infant's attachment to his or her parents in the second half of the first year reflects the fruitfulness of an integration of psychoanalytic insights and empirical research. In line with this approach, this paper considers the mother-infant relationship in the first few months from two perspectives: that of the British School of Object Relations and that of the theory of Intersubjectivity, set out initially within developmental psychology and, more recently, developed within systems theory. These views are considered in the light of evidence from two sources. First, a series of experimental studies is described employing disruptions to both the form and the timing of communication between 6- to 12-week-old infants and their mothers. This work illustrates the sensitivity of young infants to the quality of their interpersonal engagements and, also, the contribution of the infant to the regulation of interactions with others. Second, evidence is presented from a prospective study of the effects of maternal depression in the postnatal period on infant development. This work shows the possible longer term consequences for the infant of early disturbances in the mother-infant relationship. Infants of postnatally depressed women were found to be more insecurely attached to their mothers, were more likely to have mild behavioral problems (especially sleep disturbance), and showed poorer outcome on Object Concept tasks at 18 months. These effects occurred despite the fact that the mother had recovered from depression by 3 months postpartum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between parents forms a significant part of the social environment within which infants and children develop. Research and clinical practice indicate that the process of becoming a parent can place a strain on a couple's partnership and that the presence of children can be associated with diminished levels of satisfaction within marriage. This paper considers why marital satisfaction may decline with the roles and responsibilities of parenthood and pays particular attention to the problem of managing difference at personal and public levels when unconscious assumptions and conscious expectations merge and apply pressure on the individual parents and their relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemiologists and psychoanalysts have been equally concerned about the intergenerational concordance of disturbed patterns of attachment. Mary Main's introduction of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) has provided the field with an empirical tool for examining the concordance of parental and infant attachment patterns, in the context of a prospective study of the influence of parental patterns of attachment assessed before the birth of the first child upon the child's pattern of attachment to that parent at 1 year and at 18 months, the Anna Freud Centre—University College London Parent-Child Project reported a significant level of concordance between parental security and the infant's security with that parent. In the context of this study, a new measure, aiming to assess the parent's capacity for understanding mental states, was developed and is reported on in this paper. The rating of Reflective-Self Function, based upon AAI transcripts, correlated significantly with infant security classification based on Strange Situation assessments. The philosophical background and clinical importance of the measure are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship—as represented—is proving to be of growing value in our thinking about clinical problems such as ‘intergenerational transfer.’ It is also an extremely positive influence in our thinking about how the interpersonal world is remembered, abstracted, and lived. Yet, the nature of a ‘represented relationship’ remains unclear. This paper is an attempt to clarify some of the problems and areas for needed study regarding this concept. The mother's representation of her infant and of the people in her own life who have played ‘maternal roles’ will be taken as the model. First, we will explore the richness and complexity of these representations and conclude that, for clinical purposes, different modes are used to simplify this richness and render it therapeutically useful. Three models will be discussed. The first is the distortion model which measures the distance between the mother's subjective experience of her interaction or relationship with another and some objective, observable ‘reality.’ The model of overdetermining themes is a second model, largely the inspiration of psychoanalysis but inclusive of Bowlby's theory of attachment. Here psychobiological and/or psychodynamic themes organize the clinical material. Finally, a coherence model is discussed. Here the motive is goodness of the narrative construction rather than the historical ‘truth.’ A second issue discussed is the capacity to represent dyads vs. triads and actual vs. second-hand narrated relationships. These issues arc crucial for notions not only about the nature of such representations but also their limitations in understanding family interactions and relationships, i.e., where many members are concerned. A third issue concerns the nature of the subjective experience for a mother when a representation of her infant or herself in relation to the infant is ‘activated.’ There exists here an unknown typology of experience. Finally, we will discuss what all of the above have to contribute to our further understanding of the nature of represented relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the influence of maternal representations during pregnancy on the subsequent mother-infant relationship and the infant's style of attachment at 1 year of age. Psychoanalytic thinking, beginning with Freud to the most recent contributions, has considered the great importance of the mental dynamics between parents and children to which empirical research according to Bowlby's theoretical perspective has contributed, The current research project was planned in order to study the intergenerational processes. Starting during pregnancy, the woman was interviewed specifically to study maternal representations of herself as a mother and of the future baby. When the child was 1 year old, the style of attachment was studied during the Ainsworth Strange Situation paradigm and, at the same time, the mother was given the Adult Attachment Interview. Case studies are presented to illustrate, from the clinical point of view, the mental dynamics during pregnancy and the influence on the style of attachment of the baby. The clinical implications are discussed especially in terms of the fantasies in pregnancy and their relevance for the subsequent mother-infant relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a discussion of the issue of infant day care as a risk condition for later developmental problems. It focuses on the appropriateness of using a risk factor conceptualization for describing research on infant day care and on important research questions that have largely been ignored in recent discussions of the effects of infant day care experience on development, A number of criteria for assigning risk factor status to associational findings are discussed, and it is suggested that this approach does not seem justified with regard to the current research on infant day care. Several studies that have examined infants' actual experiences in day care settings and compared these to home-reared infants' experiences are discussed as an example of important research that broadens our approach to understanding this complex issue. It is suggested that the discussion of research in this area return to the traditional terminology of associational findings rather than the narrow conceptualization of risk conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and clinicians have found that examining the characteristics of a parent-child relationship is a useful way to organize and understand the variety of factors and patterns associated with child maltreatment. Problems severe enough to result in child maltreatment often originate in the earliest period of the developing and consolidating relationship between parent and child, called the attachment period. This paper elaborates on these ideas from the perspectives of normal and psychopathological outcomes of the attachment process as it occurs in normal infancy and normal parenthood. The normal outcome will be contrasted with psychopathological outcomes, defined as attachment disorders. The connection between attachment disorders and child maltreatment is discussed, with reference to the implications for therapeutic intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parent-child groups as an educational method in a general hospital setting provide support for parents and an environment in which they can discuss their questions about their child's development. This paper illustrates the clinical use of parent-child groups as a means of early intervention in problems that become apparent during the Separation-Individuation stages of development. We present two case studies of mother-child pairs, who have been members of the group for 2 years. The first case is a bi-racial child whose mother is struggling to deal with the child's rapprochement stage behavior. Through the oral and anal stages, conflict has grown in their relationship due to the mother's way of viewing her child, as well as her own unresolved adolescent separation difficulties. The second case is an overprotective mother whose own pathology prevented her daughter from resolving her rapprochement crisis. Interventions by the leaders as well as the group's educational method help both mother-child pairs to resolve interpersonal conflict and to continue their essentially normal development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on processes of rethinking and reformulating conceptual and clinical bases for understanding the way in which change takes place in psychotherapy. Almost daily, one encounters new books, journal articles, and conferences that are directed toward this goal. Psychology is moving from traditional psychoanalytic language and conceptual frameworks to new vocabularies of chaos theory and nonlinear dynamic systems, as it is sought to describe processes in the therapeutic interaction. Discussion has moved from explanations of change in the psychotherapeutic process as based on insight, as the unconscious becomes conscious through effective interpretation, to explanations described in terms of shifts in the organization of consciousness.

Comments on the articles published in the September 1992 issue of the "Infant Mental Health Journal." Increase of articles about infant mental health published through direct solicitation and special sections in addition to the regular submission process; Recognition that researchers and clinicians in different countries have been socialized in their own unique style of approaching both research and clinical practice; Publication of additional perspectives from individuals from other countries in upcoming issues.

Discusses the aspects of psychiatry and psychology underlying emotional development. Elaboration of the mental representations of the self and other; Characteristics of the intergenerational transmission of mental representation; Conceptualization of the schema-of-a-way-of-being-with by Daniel Stern.

The word amae is generally used in the Japanese language with a variety of emotions depending on different interpersonal interactions. (1) When an adult identifies with an infant or a child and directs appropriate emotional availability, the affect of dependence and attachment that the adult recognizes in the child is called amae (the prototype of the word). (2) When an adult has little empathy with the dependency or attachment shown by the child, the adult negatively perceives that the child is ‘amaeru-ing.’ Experiencing such discommunications, the child begins to test adults to see if they have empathy with him or her. In other words, he or she begins to formulate certain psychological functions linked with amae such as reading other people's expressions-hitomishiri (stranger anxiety) or enryo (hesitation or reserve). (3) When the child is good at actively manipulating the emotions of adults and creates such a state of affect as to satisfy his or her dependence or attachment, he or she is said to be an amaeru-ing child. (4) When the child, although he or she is actually dependent on or loved by adults, denies the fact and behaves innocently or defiantly, the child is said to be in a state of amae. The usage of the word amae described above can be observed in exactly the same manner in interactions between adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A concept deriving from the Japanese word amae is introduced as that which bridges dependence and attachment, two conceptually different states. The word primarily refers to what an infant feels when seeking his or her mother, but it can also apply to an adult to indicate the presence of a similar feeling of being emotionally close to another. Significantly, the feeling of amae is not mediated by words, though it can be acknowledged as such on reflection. Also, when frustrated, it can easily lead to a desire for such a feeling. Two popular stories, one French and the other American, are cited to illustrate the existence of amae, and, in fact, its central importance, even in non-Javanese contexts. The psychology of keeping pets can also be understood in terms of amae. It is thus maintained that though the concept comes from Japanese, it is universally applicable and can shed new light on the emotional life which has been the main target of psychoanalytic investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Infant Mental Health Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Talks about topics pertaining to infant day care and developmental risk. Interpretation of a risk condition conceptualization; Factors to consider in making decisions about risk classification; Degree of normal functional impairment brought about by developmental sequelae.

Copyright of Infant Mental Health Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Infant Mental Health Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Infant Mental Health Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Infant Mental Health Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)